Crystal Theatre takes stage in New York

A rock opera of the life and death of Cleopatra will be performed at the Midtown International Theatre Festival in New York City during the next two and a half weeks by Norwalk's own Crystal Theatre.

The production, "Cleopatra: A Life Unparalleled," was written and directed by Cheryl Kemeny, the president and cofounder of Crystal Theatre.

"It's straight from her birth, straight to her death," explained Kemeny. The play details her childhood, her come to power, her persistence in uniting the world under one ruler, her strong religious beliefs, and her death.

According to Kemeny, the play also depicts Cleopatra's love affairs.

"It colors the whole relationships with Mark Antony, with Caesar, and with Rome," she said.

Melissa Labbadia of Norwalk will play the role of Cleopatra.

"She's very interesting, and it's an honor to play such a pivotal role in history," she explained.

Labbadia, who is currently studying theater at Marymount Manhattan College, has been training at Crystal Theatre in Norwalk for nine years.

"This is my first play I'll be doing in the city. It's really great I'm really excited about it," she said.

Gregory Kisken will play Mark Antony and Matthew Surapine tackles the other leading role, Julius Caesar.

Surapine is a professional opera singer and actor from Norwalk who travels the country investing his time in numerous roles. In the past two years, he has been involved with many operas in New York City including "Madama Butterfly," "Die Entführung aus dem Serail," "The Most Happy Fella" and "Capriccio."

Surapine said he was glad to work with Kemeny on this project.

"I'm thrilled. I've known Cheryl a long time. Cheryl has a wonderful way of mixing all these styles. She captures a lot of the middle eastern flavor," he said.

Surapine said that he is enjoying his role as Caesar, "exploring his basic humanity," and he explained that he has learned a significant amount about Caesar since he began practicing his part.

"He's heroic, but he has the same flaws as other people," he said, explaining that Caesar fell into the vanity and egotism that many famous people still do today.

"Cleopatra" is the first production Crystal Theatre has presented in New York City in the last 18 years. Kemeny once wrote and produced a play called "A Spinning Tale" off-Broadway in 1990. Since then, her main focus has been on the theater's productions for kids, such as Arts in the Park and Broadway Camp. She has also written and produced other Crystal Theatre shows that have been performed in Norwalk over the years, such as "Ellis Island," "Living the American Dream," and "A Spinning Tale."

She explained that a few people had recently talked her into submitting "Cleopatra" into the Midtown International Theatre Festival. Once they found out they were accepted, Crystal Theatre needed to figure out how they were going to juggle the NYC shows and the already planned and ticketed Norwalk ones.

"It's hard to get a break. You're doing the show, producing the show," Kemeny explained. "It's very intense and a lot of work for the actors, but it's exciting at the same time. We have phenomenal talent in the show."

"Phenomenal talent" is very good wording for the actors taking part in this production. There is a limit at the festival of 12 cast members per show. That means that each member is playing at least two roles, if not more.

"Anyone who gets a chance to go see it," Surapine said. "It's got a very talented cast."

"I'm so honored to be a part of it. I think it's a big step for Norwalk theater and Crystal Theatre to be acknowledged in Midtown. It's going to be a great production and everyone should come see it to support Crystal Theatre and Norwalk," concluded Labbadia.

"Cleopatra: A Life Paralleled" will be performed in Midtown this Saturday at 3:45 p.m. Future performances are July 23 and 31 and Aug. 2 and 3. Tickets are $18 and can be purchase by visiting Crystal Theatre's website www.crystaltheatre.org or www.ticketcentral.com. Crystal Theatre also has summer camps available for children in first through tenth grades.